Carrier means for attaching apparatus to the human body



May 21, 1963 R. H. HEIMERS ETAL 3,090,621

CARRIER MEANS FOR ATTACHING APPARATUS TO THE HUMAN BODY Filed July 29, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TORS RUDOLPH HEINRICH HEIMERS FRIEDREICH OTOMAN HEIMERS SIEGFRIED IMMANUEL HEIMERS y 1421 & 140

May 21, 1963 R. H. HEIMERS ETAL CARRIER MEANS FOR ATTACHING APPARATUS TO THE HUMAN BODY Filed July 29, 1960 2; 8 :5 92 El 94 x I I 64 96 I z 4 I z z r 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 nlHllllHlll" Fig. 3

INVENTORS RUDOLPH HEINRICH HEIMERS FRIEDRElCH OTOMAN HEIMERS SIEGFRIED IMMANUEL HEIMERS 3,090,621 CARRIER MEANS FOR ATTACHING APPARATUS TO THE HUMAN BGDY Rudolph Heinrich Heimers, Friedreich (Itoman Heimers, and Siegfried Immanuel Heimers, all of 1222 Pepper Drive, El Cajon, Calif.

Filed .luly 29, 1960, Ser. No. 46,179 9 Claims. (Cl. 273-95) The present invention relates generally to carriers and more particularly to carrier means for attaching apparatus to the human body and is a continuation-in-part of our copending application Serial No. 684,049, filed September 16, 1957, now abandoned.

The primary object of this invention is to provide carrier means which is supported on the back and is adapted to hold a linear member, such as a wand, flagpole, gun or similarly proportioned elements extending upwardly above the head, the carrier means being fully adjustable to fit the body comfortably within a wide range of sizes and being easily and quickly removable.

Another object of this invention is to provide carrier means particularly suitable for holding game apparatus utilizing an elongated Wand carrying a length of elastic wound on multiple pulleys for retaining a captive ball, the arrangement being illustrated in the above mentioned copending application and further in our issued U.S. Patent No. 2,945,694.

Another object of this invention is to provide carrier means having pivotal waist and neck engaging portions which ensure proper fit and freedom of movement without dislodging the carrier.

A further object of this invention is to provide carrier means having a frictional brake for use with captive ball apparatus, the brake being operable by either hand or by merely tilting the head.

Finally, it is an object to provide carrier means of the aforementioned character which is simple and convenient to manufacture and use and which will give generally efficient and durable service.

With these and other objects definitely in view, this invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of elements and portions, as will be hereinafter fully described in the specification, particularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the drawings which form a material part of this disclosure, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation view of the complete carrier;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevation View thereof;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4--4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 3.

Similar characters of reference indicate similar or identical elements and portions throughout the specification and throughout the views of the drawings.

The carrier comprises a rigid, elongated supporting member 10 having an upright lower portion 12 and a forwardly bent upper portion 14, the lower end of said lower portion being attached to a curved waist yoke 16, shaped to fit around the wearers back at the waist. The waist yoke 16 is held by a pin 18, the head of which has a rounded underside 20 which seats in a countersunk socket 22 in the supporting member 10, a resilient collar 24, of rubber or the like, being fitted between said member tats steer as and said waist yoke to provide a resilient, pivotal attachment.

Mounted on the upper portion 14 is an adjustable bracket 26 having a forwardly extending arm-28, said bracket being retained by a lock screw 30 and manually operable nut 32, the lock screw passing through a longitudinal slot 34 in said upper portion. To keep the bracket 26 in alignment, the upper end of the bracket has a small integral tongue 36 which is olfset to ride in the slot 34, as in FIGURE 3. Secured to the bracket 26 is a neck yoke 38 comprising an attachment arm 40 at one end of which is an upwardly turned lug 42 carrying a pair of opposed yoke bars 44, each pivotally attached to said lug at one end by a rivet 46 or the like. The yoke bars 44 are curved to fit around the back of the neck and can be pivoted about the rivets 46 to adjust to a comfortable position, as indicated in broken line in FIGURE 6. The attachment arm 40 is secured by a screw 48 passing through a slot 50 in the arm 28 and fastened by a wing nut 52, said attachment arm having a tongue 54 which rides in said slot to maintain alignment. Thus the neck yoke 33 is adjustable vertically to suit an individual wearer and is also adjustable from front to rear to space the upper portion 14 clear of the back of the head, in a vertical or forwardly inclined position as desired.

At the top of the upper portion 14 is a clamping saddle 56 mounted on an elongated, resilient supporting leaf 58 which is fixed at one end to said upper portion, said saddle extending around the upper portion and having inwardly turned, opposed clamping edges 60 disposed rearwardly thereof. Clamping action of the saddle 56 is controlled by an actuating bar 62 sliding longitudinally between said saddle and the upper portion 14, said actuating bar having an angularly disposed ramp portion 64 at one end to force the saddle forwardly. The other end of the actuating bar 62 has a forwardly return folded tab 66 with apertures 68 through which the supporting leaf 58 passes, so that the actuating bar is slidable along and is guided by said supporting leaf. When a linear element such as a rod, bar, or the like is placed on the rear of the upper portion 14 and the actuating bar 62 slid downwardly, the clamping saddle 56 is forced forwardly to secure the linear element by the clamping edges or terminals 60.

To facilitate the use of the carrier with captive element apparatus and the like as described in the above mentioned issued patent, a flat, rectangular locating plate 70 is fixed to the rear face of the upper portion 14. The game apparatus illustrated in part in FIGURES 3 and 4 is one example of the captive element apparatus and comprises a rigid, elongated wand 72 having a central web 74 and side rails 76, the locating plate 70 being dimensioned to fit between said side rails and align the wand with the supporting member 10 to extend above the wearers head. A captive element such as a ball, puck, or the like, not shown, is attached to a length of elastic 78 carried by pulleys 80 of a multiple pulley block 82, which is fixed to an end of the wand 72. A similar pulley block is fitted to the other end of the wand so that a considerable length of elastic can be wound around the pulleys and extend on both sides of the web 74. The specific structure and arrangement of the wand and pulley assembly is fully described in our Patent No. 2,945,694 and further in Patent No. 2,806,700 and is not considered to be an essential part of the present disclosure, but is merely included as an example of a particularly useful function of the carrier. The wand 72 is held in place by the clamping edges 60 on the side rails 76.

In FIGURE 4, multiple lengths of the elastic 78 are indicated extending between the web 74 and locating plate 70. The arrangement facilitates the inclusion of a firiction brake to engage the elastic and control the extention of the captive element. The brake means comprises a fiat brake plate 34, which is disposed above the locating plate 70 and is mounted on a support block'8-6 pivotally attached to the end of upper portion 14 by a hinge pin 88. Fixed :to the support block 86 and disposed forwardly thereof is a pull ring 90 formed from resilient wire and having a downwardly and rearwardly extending spring arm 92, which slides in a socket 94 in the upper portion 14. Attached to the pull ring 99 is a brake cord 96' which, when pulled downwardly, swings the brake plate 84 rear-wardly, as in FIGURE 3, to jam the elastic 78 against web 74. When the brake cord 96 is released, the resilience of spring arm 92 returns the brake plate 84 to its inoperating position. The end of brake cord 96 is threaded through holes 98 in the attachment arm 40 and adjusted with a minimum of slack.

The carrier is attached to the body by tie cords, indicated generally at 1%, the tie cords having common tethered ends 102 tied to a hook 104 which is engaged in one of a plurality of vertically spaced holes 1% in the lower portion 12, said hook being movable to adjust the eflective length of the cords. The waist yoke 16 is provided with a plurality of spaced holeslfis through which the tie cords 100 are threaded :to locations adjacent the ends of the yoke and are theniextended to further holes 1 at the tips of neck yoke bars 44. The tie cords 16%) then return to and are threaded through the tips of waist yoke 16, :the free ends constituting tie ends 112 which may be fitted :with snap hooks, such as indicated at 114. As worn, the doubled tie cords pass over and in front of the shoulders and are pulled together across the chest, one portion of one tie cord being threaded through a turnbuckle-like functioning retaining plate 116 over which one tie cord portion of the opposite tie cords is hooked, so that when the plate is rotated and the tie cords twisted the cords are pulled tight and the carrier held in place. If there are double strands on both sides, all of the strands can be secured by the retaining plate 116 or, alternatively, only one strand on each side need be engaged, while the remaining strands may or may not pass over the shoulders as desired. The retaining plate has spaced protrusions 117 which extend in the same direction from one side thereof and which materially aid in preventing inadvertent dislodgment of the retaining plate from its bodyengaging, operative position, yet a simple outward pull releases the cords. The tie ends 112 can be wrapped around the waist and fastened together or, for added security, may be passed between the legs and attached to other portions of the tie cords. Various arrangements of threading the cords through the various holes may be used to suit the individual wearer.

With the carrier attached to the back, the brake plate 84 can be actuated by tilting the head back against the brake cord 96, leaving both hands free while retaining control of the captive element. As an alternative, a trigger or brake extension cord 118 may be attached to brake cord 96 and passed through an eye 120 on one of the yoke bars 44 to a convenient position accessible to either hand for manual brake operation, such as by securing one end thereof to one of the tie cords to form a sling or loop. Plate 84 may further be used as a trigger or. to operate the trigger of a firearm, or maybe used to release or operate some movable part of the object held in the carrier means.

While the carrier is primarily intended for holding game apparatus involving a captive element while leav ing both hands free, it is equally suitable for carrying flags, banners, or the like with the supporting posts held in the clamping saddle 56. The resilient attachment of the waist yoke 16 and the arrangement of neck yoke 38 allow considerable freedom of body movement without displacing the carrier, yet a firm support is provided at all times. With the tie cords pre-threaded the carrier is easily slipped on and off overhead, or in the manner of a back pack and, once adjusted to an individual, can be made ready for use in a matter of seconds.

The operation of this invention will be clearly com prehended from a consideration of the foregoing description of the mechanical details thereof, taken in connec tion with the drawings and the above recited objects. It will be obvious that all'said objects are amply achieved by this invention.

-It is understood that minor variation from :the form of the invention disclosed herein may be made without d parture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and that the specification and drawings are to be considered as merely illustrative rather than limiting.

We claim:

1. Carrier means for attaching apparatus to the human body, comprising: a rigid, elongated, upwardly extending supporting member; a Waist engaging yoke pivotally and resiliently mounted on the lower end of said supporting member; a neck engaging yoke longitudinally adjustably mounted on the upper portion of said sup porting member; said neck engaging yoke being generallytransversely adjustable to space said supporting member clear of the wearers head; flexible, body-engaging cords interconnecting said yokes and having securing means for connection of the cords across the body; said securing means being a plate-like element attached to certain of said cords; and clamping means on the upper end portion of said supporting member to receive and hold a linear member which is to be attached to the body.

2, Carrier means according to claim 1 wherein said neck engaging yoke includes an attachment arm and diverging yoke bars curved to fit the neck and having frictional pivotal connection to said attachment arm to enable adjustment of said yoke bars.

3. Carrier means according to claim 1 wherein said plate-like element has spaced protrusions extending from one. side thereof in the same direction.

4. Carrier means for attaching apparatus to the human body, comprising: a rigid, elongated, upwardly extending supporting member; awaist engaging yoke pivotally and resiliently mounted on the lower end of said supporting member; a neck engaging yoke longitudinally adjustably mounted on the upper portion of said supporting member; said neck engaging yoke being generally transversely adjustable to space said supporting member clear of the wearers head; flexible, body engaging cord means interconnecting said yokes and having securing means; "a saddle-like clamping member adjustably mounted adjacent the upper end of said supporting member; said clamping member having opposed clamping terminals and clamp means engageable with said clamping member to secure a linear element between said supporting member and said clamping terminals.

5. Carrier means for attaching to the human body, game apparatus including a rigid linear member having an extensible cord-like playing'piece retaining element serially wound thereon, the carrier means comprising: a rigid, elongated, upwardly extending supporting member; a waist-engaging yoke pivotally and resiliently mounted on the lower end of said supporting member; a neck engaging yoke longitudinally adjustably mounted on the upper portion of said supporting member; said neck ongaging yoke being generally transversely adjustable to space said supporting member clear of the wearers head; flexible, body engaging cord means interconnecting said yokes and having securing means; clamping means mounted adjacent the upper end of said supporting member to secure the rigid linear member thereon; brake means mounted on said supporting member and having a brake portion en-gageable with said cord-like playing piece retaining element to limit withdrawal thereof from said rigid linear member; and a flexible brake cord attached to said brake means for operation thereof.

6. Carrier means according to claim 5 wherein said brake cord is connected substantially taut between said brake means and said neck yoke, whereby the brake means is operable by contact of the wearers head with said brake cord.

7. Carrier means, comprising: a rigid, elongated, supporting member; a waist engaging yoke pivotally mounted on the lower end of said supporting member; a neck engaging yoke, longitudinally adjustable and transversely adjustable in a direction to space said supporting member clear of the Wearers head, mounted on an upper portion of said supporting member; said neck engaging yoke including an attachment arm and diverging yoke bars curved to fit the neck and having pivotal connection to said attachment arm to enable adjustment of said yoke bars; flexible, body engaging cord means interconnecting said yokes and having securing means; and means on one portion of said supporting member to receive and hold a member which is to be attached to the carrier means.

8. Carrier means, comprising: a rigid, elongated, supporting member; a waist engaging yoke pivotally mounted on the lower end of said supporting member; a neck engaging yoke longitudinally adjustable and transversely adjustable in a direction to space said supporting member clear of the wearers head, mounted on an upper portion of said supporting member; said neck engaging yoke including an attachment arm and diverging yoke bars curved to lit the neck and having pivotal connection to said attachment arm to enable adjustment of said yoke bars; flexible, body engaging cord means interconnecting said yokes and having securing means; said securing means being a turnbuckle type plate shiftably mounted on one cord strand of the cord means; and means on 6 one portion of said supporting member to receive and hold a member Which is to be attached to the carrier means.

9. Carrier means, comprising: a rigid, elongated, supporting member; at waist engaging yoke pivotally mounted on the lower end of said supporting member; a neck engaging yoke, longitudinally adjustable and transversely adjustable in a direction to space said supporting member clear of the wearers head, mounted on an upper portion of said supporting member; said neck engaging yoke including an attachment arm and diverging yoke bars curved to fit the neck and having pivotal connection to said attachment arm to enable adjustment of said yoke bars; flexible, body engaging cord means interconnecting said yokes and having securing means; said securing means being a turnbuckle type plate shiftably mounted on one cord strand of the cord means; said turnbuckle type plate for the flexible cord means being a retaining plate having spaced protrusions extending from one side thereof in the same direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 753,877 Gra Mar. 8, 1904 903,682 Cumpston Nov. 10, 1908 1,011,775 Hall Dec. 12, 1911 2,806,700 Heimers et a1 Sept. 17, 1957 2,855,133 Mullin Oct. 7, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 779,572 France Jan. 19, 1935 

1. CARRIER MEANS FOR ATTACHING APPARATUS TO THE HUMAN BODY, COMPRISING: A RIGID, ELONGATED, UPWARDLY EXTENDING SUPPORTING MEMBER; A WAIST ENGAGING YOKE PIVOTALLY AND RESILIENTLY MOUNTED ON THE LOWER END OF SAID SUPPORTING MEMBER; A NECK ENGAGING YOKE LONGITUDINALLY ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED ON THE UPPER PORTION OF SAID SUPPORTING MEMBER; SAID NECK ENGAGING YOKE BEING GENERALLY TRANSVERSELY ADJUSTABLE TO SPACE SAID SUPPORTING MEMBER CLEAR OF THE WEARER''S HEAD; FLEXIBLE, BODY-ENGAGING CORDS INTERCONNECTING SAID YOKES AND HAVING SECURING MEANS FOR CONNECTION OF THE CORDS ACROSS THE BODY; SAID SECURING MEANS BEING A PLATE-LIKE ELEMENT ATTACHED TO CERTAIN OF SAID CORDS; AND CLAMPING MEANS ON THE UPPER END PORTION OF SAID SUPPORTING MEMBER TO RECEIVE AND HOLD A LINEAR MEMBER WHICH IS TO BE ATTACHED TO THE BODY, 